A 21-year-old rapper from Astara recounts being summoned, detained, beaten, and pressured to sign forced confessions after joining the January nationwide protests.
A young composer and rap singer from Astara has provided a detailed written testimony about his participation in the January nationwide protests and what happened to him afterward in detention.
Amirmohammad Rajabi, 21, a lyricist, composer, and rap performer (known as “Bangard”) and a construction worker living in Astara County in Gilan Province, describes his presence at the protests and the sequence of events that followed.
According to his account, he attended protest gatherings in Astara on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, 17, 18, and 19 Dey 1404 (January 7, 8, and 9, 2026). He says that on Wednesday a gathering in front of the governor’s office was dispersed with tear gas. On Thursday, security forces fired pellet rounds at protesters and many were injured. On Friday—unlike the previous days—he says there were no Basij or police forces present; instead, IRGC forces arrived and fired live ammunition at protesters, leaving a number of people killed and arrested.
Summons and arrest
Rajabi says that on Tuesday, 30 Dey 1404 (January 20, 2026), he received a call from a number labeled “Private Number.” The caller introduced himself as an agent of the Intelligence Ministry and told him to come at 1:00 p.m. for “an official conversation,” assuring him he would return home afterward. Rajabi says he trusted this promise and went to the location.
He recounts that upon entering, officers confiscated all his personal belongings and subjected him to an intensive body search. He was immediately handcuffed and taken to a small room where, he says, ornate, high-backed sofas—what he calls “royal-style” furniture—were arranged around the room, and portraits of Ruhollah Khomeini and Ali Khamenei, along with the flag of the Islamic Republic, were mounted on the wall.
In that room, he says, he was ordered to sit on a school bench facing the wall, not to turn around, and not to look around. Rajabi recounts that when he heard the door open, he instinctively turned his head—and was struck violently in the face. The blow, he says, dislocated his jaw and caused such severe pain that he could not speak. Despite this, he says, they demanded that he talk, and when he could not respond he was insulted and pressured further.
Interrogation, beatings, and pressure to confess
Afterward, he says, a form for recording his personal information was placed in front of him, which he filled out. Agents then demanded that he write, in detail, where he had been and what he had done on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Rajabi says he wrote everything that had happened.
He adds that interrogators then referred to a call from a number with the 0991 prefix that had contacted him on Friday night, saying the caller had reported being “hit by pellets.” Rajabi confirms that the call was from one of his friends, but says that during interrogation he refused to identify the caller and withheld the person’s name and address—denying the call altogether.
According to his testimony, after this refusal one agent grabbed him from behind by the collar of his jacket, dragged him, and caused his head to hit the ground. He was then blindfolded and taken to another room. There, he says, a second agent was present who, after hearing the interrogator’s report, said: “Throw him in the detention center—he’ll remember everything.”
Rajabi says he was held for four days and beaten daily. He emphasizes that despite physical and psychological pressure, he refused to provide information. He says interrogators threatened him, including with being charged with moharebeh (an Iranian legal-religious charge often translated as “enmity against God,” historically used for severe political/security offenses and punishable by death), and repeatedly used statements such as: “Do you know what your sentence is? Execution,” and “Say goodbye to life and to your mother and father.” He says they tried to force him into confessing to acts such as setting a bank on fire, making Molotov cocktails, and physically fighting officers.
He says these accusations were written out in front of him, in the interrogators’ handwriting, and he was told to sign them. Each time he refused, he says, he was met with slaps and blows.
He also describes the food in detention as “extremely limited,” saying he was given only one meal per day—no more than a piece of barbari bread about the size of his palm.
Conditional release and family kept in the dark
According to Rajabi, he was ultimately released, but only after being made to sign a written undertaking pledging “not to take action against the Islamic Republic” and to cooperate with security and police bodies if requested. He says he signed this undertaking “under coercion” and was then freed after his personal belongings were returned.
He stresses that throughout his detention he was not allowed to contact his family, and his family had no information about his condition. He says that after his release he learned that his parents and friends went daily to the Intelligence Office, but officials denied his detention and even denied that he was there.
